Infinis chooses ZephIR Lidar to optimise operational site performance

22 Sep 2015

Scotland, UK — Infinis, one of the UK’s leading renewable power generators, has today announced the adoption of wind lidars from ZephIR Lidar as an alternative to traditional met masts to be deployed on a number of new sites within Infinis’ growing wind energy portfolio.

Following a competitive tendering process from many of the industry’s remote sensing companies, ZephIR Lidar has been selected by Infinis.

Scott Mackenzie, Head of Wind Operations, Infinis, stated: “Infinis continues to innovate and improve the way we construct, operate and maintain our wind farms to deliver optimal performance. Utilising ZephIR Lidar is part of that innovation strategy. In replacing a fixed met mast ZephIR Lidar will gather a greater range of relevant wind data for use by our engineers in site performance analysis and production forecasting, providing wind speed and direction readings up to and beyond the height range of a traditional mast. We can achieve this from ground level, reducing visual impact while increasing operational safety and efficiency with no need to climb, maintain, inspect or periodically re-instrument an 80m mast over an operating life 20-25 years.

Additionally we will deploy a second ZephIR Lidar during the first years of operation on all new sites to confirm individual turbine power curves, check turbine alignment and work with turbine suppliers to review and optimise any curtailment strategies in line with measured real world data. In the coming years we will deploy ZephIR Lidar to build a clear picture of wind flow and turbine performance across all our assets as we strive for optimal operational performance.”

ZephIR DM installed on turbine for performance assessment

Ian Locker, Managing Director, ZephIR Lidar stated: “We are delighted that ZephIR Lidar has been selected by Infinis and I believe this initiative sets a new standard for the rest of the wind industry to follow. The provision of advanced, high-quality wind data is essential in the optimised management of wind plant, informing site decisions and allowing owners, such as Infinis, to really take control. We are excited and ready to deploy the first fleet of Infinis ZephIR Lidars this year, and continue to work closely in order to prepare for further deployments in 2016.”

This Infinis ‘model’ will incorporate two wind lidars: a static lidar for traditional wind measurements, curtailment claims, and resource assessments; and a mobile lidar to be deployed flexibly across the site as required, either ground-based or turbine-mounted, to identify operational improvement opportunities.

ZephIR 300 is an accurate, robust and cost-effective lidar with the longest service period (3 years) of any comparable device. The first remote sensor to achieve DNV GL Stage 3 acceptance for use with no additional met masts, combined with excellent classification results

ZephIR DM delivers high-resolution, full rotor scanning capability unparalleled by any other turbine-mounted Lidar. Its ability to take slices of data across the full rotor, combined with the on-board motion recognition system, make continual measurements at hub height possible. This provides a measurement compliant with the requirements stipulated within the draft revision of the IEC Standard for Power Performance measurements (IEC 61400-12-1).